San Quentin (1937)

The Worst Film Ever

One of my all time favorites.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Great Film overall

"San Quentin" is definitely nothing special. Nothing so horrible, but nothing that stands out.The main attraction here is simply to watch Bogie do his thing. He plays the punk brother of the girl (Ann Sheridan) who the new prison yard top guy (Pat O'Brien) falls for. So O'Brien has a soft spot for Bogie despite him (O'Brian) being a tough as nails no-nonsense guy.Ann Sheridan is one of the most beautiful actresses of the 30's so she is always fun to watch. Seeing O'Brien act a bit tough is always fun because he's so low-key most of the time, when he actually gets mad and shouts he's kinda funny, in a good way. And Bogie is Bogie, acting tough and being cool.Definitely worth watching to see these three old pros, nothing much else here otherwise.

One of the better early prison movies is SAN QUENTIN directed by Lloyd Bacon for Warner Brothers. A fast paced drama starring Pat O'Brien as(Captain Stephen Jameson), a former military officer who accepts a job at the infamous San Quentin prison and brings with him ideas of military-style-reform. His changes don't go over easy with hardened criminals like 'Sailor Boy' Hanson(Joe Sawyer) and fresh new 'fish' like Joe Kennedy(Humphrey Bogart). An uprising of discontent begins when a bitter guard(Barton MacLane)informs some of the prison population that Jameson is dating Kennedy's attractive sister(Ann Sheridan).Movies like this flourished in America during the Great Depression and it is very odd that it was actually banned in Finland. Rounding out the cast: Joe King, James Robbins, Garry Owen, Veda Ann Borg and William Pawley.

San Quentin (1937) *** (out of 4) The new captain (Pat O'Brien) at San Quentin finds himself in a hard spot because the woman (Ann Sheridan) he loves just happens to have a younger brother (Humphrey Bogart) in the prison. Another prison drama from Warner works pretty well throughout, due in large part to the performances. This is the best I've seen O'Brien and I'm really starting to love seeing Bogart in these smaller roles. The joke the other cons pull on Bogart at the start of the film is certainly the highlight. Barton MacLane nearly steals the show as the tough prison guard.

Perhaps not as good as it should have been considering the talent on show? But San Quentin remains an above average drama that achieves its aim. The formula is a familiar one with the genre, in that we get a Governor who wants to do good, he believes in rehabilitation, but can he straighten out the unruly and etc etc? The situation is further complicated because here Governor Jameson {a solid Pat O'Brien} has to deal with the interesting slant of having his lover's Brother {Bogart} serving time under his tenure. The character build up is adequate considering the relatively short running time of the film, and some sequences are well executed and have genuine tension. But the film's ultimate bonus point is the ending, which quite took me by surprise, so much so I was really impressed that they chose to go down this route.This is not merely a film for Bogart completists, it's a well laid out genre piece from a great age of cinema, and, thankfully, it is acted out accordingly to get it a thumbs up recommend. 7/10